The University of Chicago Receives Gift to Study the Economic and Policy Impact of Oil and Alternative Fuels
March 15 2012 - 10:27AM
Business Wire
The University of Chicago today announced that the Energy Policy
Institute at Chicago (EPIC) has received a $1.5 million gift from
the Fuel Freedom Foundation to establish the Future of
Transportation Fuels Initiative.
The Initiative will support EPIC faculty and experts studying
the economic and policy impact of oil and alternative
transportation fuels. The gift will also fund Ph.D. students and a
visiting professorship, and extend outreach programs to the public.
EPIC is a joint enterprise of the University of Chicago Booth
School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy.
“This generous gift will help EPIC conduct the data-driven
research that policymakers and business leaders need to make sound,
evidence-based energy policy decisions,” said Robert Topel,
co-director of EPIC and the Isidore Brown and Gladys J. Brown
Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of
Chicago Booth School of Business.
“EPIC is built on the conviction that meeting our future energy
needs and enhancing energy security, while limiting adverse
environmental and social impact, starts with the development of
sound public policy. This gift will greatly aid our effort toward
that end,” said Robert Rosner, co-director of EPIC and the William
E. Wrather Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of
Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics, the Enrico Fermi Institute,
and the Computation Institute.
“This is a critical time for our nation as we search for ways
struggle to lower fuel costs and achieve energy independence,” said
Yossie Hollander, co-founder of the Fuel Freedom Foundation, a
non-profit, non-partisan organization in Irvine, California. “The
University of Chicago is renowned for its rigorous economic
analysis and we are privileged to be its partner on this vital
project.”
“In addition to oil, we have an abundance of natural gas,
ethanol and methanol,” said Joe Cannon, president of the Fuel
Freedom Foundation. “We need to understand the impact all of these
fuels can have in bringing down the price Americans pay at the
pump.”
Founded in 2011, EPIC is an interdisciplinary research institute
focused on the economic and social policy questions related to
energy. The Institute’s mission is to provide data-driven research
on energy, to train policy and business leaders in a science-based
approach to energy issues, and to communicate research findings to
decision-makers, the media, and the public.
The core research team at EPIC is made up of 54 University of
Chicago faculty members from economics, business, physical
sciences, public policy, and law. Faculty members are joined by
computational scientists and engineering experts from Argonne
National Laboratory. EPIC also works closely with the Bulletin of
the Atomic Scientists to communicate its research to decision
makers, the media, and the public worldwide.
The Fuel Freedom Foundation supports the development of cheaper,
cleaner, American-made fuels by reducing regulatory and
infrastructure barriers to competition. By working to enhance U.S.
energy independence and security, the Fuel Freedom Foundation aims
to help lower fuel prices, create jobs, spur economic growth,
lessen pollution, and reduce geopolitical conflict. For more
information, go to www.fuelfreedom.org.